The Missing
by CA184
Summary: Joey and Scarlet have gone missing so Josh and Elle get worried and go to do some investigating for themselves.  T for violence and killing of creatures.
1. Chapter 1

Josh was outside playing fetch with Shuki, the family dog, while Alex and Elle sat on the swings watching him. Shuki was a cute little husky. He was a decent sized dog, not too big and not too small.

Josh threw the red rubber ball all around the backyard. He watched as Shuki went to get the ball and then he patted at his legs saying "come here Shuki. Come on." The husky obeyed and dropped the ball in front of Josh, waiting for him to throw it again.

Before Josh could throw the ball again, his and Alex's father had come out. The young boy could hear his brother groan as his father walked up to him.

Adam had a stern look on his face as he approached Alex. Like he usually did when he came to see Alex. Alex made a face that said 'what do you want now' and rolled his eyes as his father stopped in front of him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Alex yelled when his father grabbed his arm and dragged him off of the swing.

"You're coming with me." Adam ordered while keeping a stern look and away from Alex.

"Why should I go with you?" Alex angrily pulled his arm out of his father's grasp.

Adam turned around, enraged at his son's disobedience. "Listen here! When I give you an order, I expect you to follow it! If you want to be a soldier, you'll have to start following orders! Got it?"

"Well I don't want to be one! You were the one that wanted me to be a soldier!" Alex yelled back at his father. He was a little embarrassed to get yelled at by his father at his age in front of his friend. He was used to his father yelling at him in front of Joshua so it didn't bug him as much. "What do you want anyway?" Alex snapped at his father.

"Joey Bartlett and Scarlet Fitch have gone missing. I need you to come help look for them, along with Mayor Bartlett and Dr. Fitch." Adam growled. "Now come on!" He grabbed his son's arm again and dragged him into the house.

After the two had left, Josh looked over at Elle in confusion. "That was odd." Josh finally said after the long silence.

Elle nodded. "Hey Josh? You wanna come with me to make sure Nora is okay?" She stood up from the swing and walked over to the young brunette.

"Sure." Josh answered and dropped the rubber ball to the ground. Shuki rushed over to the ball and began to chew on it, instantly covering it in saliva.

The two entered the small house and walked through the kitchen and to the door. As they past the lounge, they saw Lillian sitting in her rocking chair, staring blankly out the window as if in some kind of trance. Josh looked up at Elle with concern for his mother. Elle shook her head. "We'll check on her when we get back. Let's make sure Nora is okay first." She whispered.

Josh nodded and the two went out the door. They walked to Elle's house, making sure to stay on the sidewalk as to not get hit by oncoming cars. After a couple of blocks they made it to the Holloway's house.

"Huh? I don't remember locking the door when I left." Elle stared at the door in confusion.

"Maybe your mom locked it." Josh suggested.

"True. Maybe she's home. Although she might be doing something so I don't want to bother her with opening the door for us." Elle pulled out a small key from her pocket. "Good thing I have this." She smiled. She gently put the key into the hole and turned it trying to make as little noise as possible, in hopes of not disturbing her mother. "Ah. Here we are." Elle said happily and pushed the door open the rest of the way.

They walked in and found the house pretty much in dead silence. The only sounds were of their breathing and footsteps, but a faint thudding sound could be heard above them as well as they walked down the hallway towards the stairs.

"What is that?" Josh stared up at the ceiling as he followed Elle.

"I don't know." Elle looked up at the ceiling. "It sounds like it's coming from…" She gasped "It's Nora! It's coming from Nora's room!"

The two rushed up the stairs and barged through Nora's door. Nora was pinned to the ground under her mother's weight. Margaret sat on Nora's legs as she was closing her hands tightly around her daughter's neck. Nora was gasping for air with tears running down her cheeks. She looked like she was in a lot of pain.

"Mom!" Elle yelled and shoved her mom off of her sister.

"What do you think you are doing?" Margaret yelled at her older daughter.

"What do I think I'm doing? What about you?" Elle argued back. "Why were you strangling Nora? She's your own daughter for Christ's sake!"

While the two were arguing, Josh went over to Nora and helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked. He received a nod while she was still trying to regain her breath.

"I was doing what had to be done. It was for the sake of the town." Margaret glared at Elle. "Now you have doomed this town! The other sacrifices will have been in vain if I don't kill her!" She pointed to Nora, making Nora shudder and hide behind Josh.

"Sacrifices? Who else was going to be sacrificed?" Elle demanded an answer.

Margaret chuckled slightly. "Wouldn't you like to know. They were probably already sacrificed and taken away." She grinned "…and the last one is you darling." Judge Holloway grinned at Nora. "Now be a good little girl and come here." She began to approach her younger daughter.

"I won't let you touch her!" Elle shoved her mother back again. Quickly, she turned around and grabbed Josh and Nora's hands. "Come on!" She ran out the door and down the stairs with them. "You won't get away." They heard from above them. "Just watch us!" Elle yelled back and ran out the front door and into the streets with the two.

"Josh. We're going back to your house." Elle said and led the two back towards the Shepherd house.

**Author's notes**

**So what do you think? I know it's really short, but I'm sure the next chapters will be longer since this is really just the introduction. This is my first Silent Hill fic and I have only ever played Homecoming. Great game in my opinion though. I'm going to stop rambling then. So please review, and Ciao! **


	2. Chapter 2

The three reached Josh's house to find that the door was wide open with a trail of water leading from the upstairs to the garage. Josh had a worried expression on as he stared at the trail. "Mom?" he said, starting to get a little freaked out. He walked into the house and looked into the lounge when he received no answer. She was still there, staring out the window. Same expression and same spot she stared at. "Mom? Are you okay?" Josh walked up to his mother to see if she was okay. He leaned in closer to her when he heard her mumbling something. "…rry. I'm sorry." he could here her repeating over and over as she stared blankly out the window.

"You're sorry? For what?" Josh looked at his mother in confusion.

"Mrs. Shepherd?" Elle tried to see what was wrong and stood by Josh along with Nora. "Is there anything we can do for you? Do you need anything?" She tried her best to act calm, but Lillian's behavior was starting to scare her. The fact that her mom was trying to kill her sister for no reason already freaked her out. The thought of her mother just coming out of nowhere and trying to kill them would give her nightmares too.

"Mrs. Shepherd. Please let us help you. You don't look well. Tell us what's wrong." Nora tried to help as well.

At the sound of Nora's voice, Lillian turned to see the three standing next to her. Josh was relieved until his mother's eyes widened in horror. "M-mom? Are you-?"

"What is she still doing here?" Lillian's voice shook.

"What do you mean 'still'? Why wouldn't she be here?" Josh's voice contained some fright as he spoke.

"Margaret should've killed her by now. How is she still alive?"

"You knew about that and you said nothing?" Elle snapped at Lillian. "My sister could've died." She glared at Mrs. Shepherd.

"Don't you understand? The other three's sacrifices will be in vain if she doesn't die!" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Lillian…" Elle gently said and knelt in front of her. She could never be mad at Lillian. Who could? "Who are the other three sacrifices? Maybe we can save them before it's too late."

"It's already too late… You might as well just forget about them." Lillian hung her head in shame. "I should've stopped him…" She mumbled. "I'm sorry…" Tears began to slide down her face and plop to the floor.

"Please tell me who they are. I'm sure we can save them. I'm sure it's not too late." Elle felt the fear spreading throughout her body. She was pretty sure who they were, but she didn't want to believe it. Knowing that letting her fear show would just frighten Nora and Josh. She wanted to know who the others were, but at the same time she didn't. Knowing would probably make her cry, and it would probably be easier to forget. At least Elle hoped it would.

"Mom." Josh startled Elle when he suddenly began to speak. "Where are they taking the sacrifices?"

"No." Lillian spoke after a long silence. "I will not allow you to go there. Your father has even told you so many times not to go there." His mother looked up at him, showing the tears that coated her eyes and stained her face. Josh had to hold back tears of his own from such a sad sight. "Please don't make me lose anyone else."

Josh began to back away, frightened by his mother's desperate and sad voice. He let out a small whimper when Lillian grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her. The young Shepherd cringed in pain as his skin was slightly twisted as he was brought back in front of his mother. "You won't leave me will you?" She said in a raised voice while staring directly into her son's eyes. His eyes showed great fear while her's showed slight insanity and a great amount of grief. Josh tried to pull his hand away only to have it ripped back towards Lillian. "Don't go. Don't go. Don't go…" she continuously repeated. Josh let out a small cry for a help.

Catching the signal, Elle dug her nails into the skin on Lillian's hands while Nora grabbed Josh's arm, ready to pull him free. Lillian screamed in pain and pulled her hands away. Josh fell back a bit and almost fell backwards. Luckily Nora was there to support him. He stared at his mother in horror as he rubbed his reddened arm.

"Josh let's go!" Elle snapped him out of his trance. Elle and Nora had already started towards the door. He looked back at his mother. She was weeping into her hands while whispering something. Josh looked at her lips to determine what she was trying to say. "I'm sorry…" he was able to make out. Lucky for him to learn how to read lips from his older brother always secretly mouthing off to his father when his back was turned.

"Josh!" He heard Elle call his name from behind him. "Come on." Josh nodded and ran towards Elle without daring to look back at his mother. It would have just filled him with grief if he had to see her like that anymore.

'_I'm sorry…' _Josh couldn't seem to get those words out of his head. _'What were you sorry for mom?'_

"Where are we going anyway?" Nora spoke, breaking Josh out of his deep thought.

"We're going to ask the mayor what's going on." Elle answered, leading the two towards the Bartlett's home.

"Umm…Elle?" Josh softly said.

"Yeah?" She looked down towards him. "Need something?" She smiled trying to calm him down. It was obvious that he was shaken up by how his mother had just acted. His body shook slightly as well as his voice.

"What do you think my mom was sorry about?"

"I…I'm not sure. Maybe Mayor Bartlett knows." Elle replied.

"Okay…" Josh said sadly. His reply made Elle ashamed for lying. She was pretty sure she knew why Lillian was so upset and Josh knew she was hiding something.

"Hey Elle. There are some boats out on the lake." Nora waved the other two over to her. There was a part of the lake that could be seen past the trees on their side of the street. "I can't tell who they are though." Nora said innocently, straining her eyes to find out who they were.

"I have a pair of binoculars in my bag." Elle stated when her and Josh had gotten to her younger sister. Elle pulled a pair of binoculars out of her bag and grinned. "I liked to drag Alex to go bird watching in the forest every now and then. He never seemed to be having very much fun though." This made Josh laugh a little. It was nice to see him having fun again. Elle raised the binoculars to her eyes and looked out at the lake.

Josh and Nora watched her, waiting for a response or for her to say something about who's out there. She gasped and looked like she was on the verge of tearing up. Then she mouthed something. It was quick but Josh was able to make it out. "No?" Josh asked Elle. "No what?" He was confused and now so was Nora after hearing what Elle had mouthed.

Elle looked down from her binoculars "Ah. It was nothing. A bird just got eaten by an alligator is all." She said in a shaky voice, clearly having trouble holding back the tears. "The people in the boats were just other town's people."

"Are you sure…" Nora asked as she and Josh narrowed their eyes on her.

"Y-yes positive!" She replied shakily. "Well we ought to get going. It's getting dark out too so we should hurry to the Mayor's house and get some sleep."

"Okay…" Josh and Nora said and looked at each other worriedly. "What do you think she actually saw?" Nora asked when Elle had quickly run off as to not be questioned and to hide the tears she could no longer hold back.

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure it wasn't an alligator eating a bird though…" Josh shrugged. "I'm sure it has something to do with the sacrifices though." Nora nodded and the two ran off to catch up with Elle. Her eyes were red and her sleeves were moistened when they finally caught up with her.

"Sis are you okay?" Nora showed how concerned she was in the tone of her voice.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Elle sniffled and rubbed her red, puffy eyes. "Let's just hurry up. I'm tired."

"Let's go then." Nora began to pull on Ell's arm to go faster. Josh began to pull on her other arm and the two laughed and smiled together. _'It would be nice if she would smile again.'_

It did brighten up Elle's mood a bit. That was good enough for now.

Soon enough, the three reached the Bartlett home. "Is anyone home?" Elle asked as she knocked on the door. There was no answer. However, the door had slowly creaked open.

"Creepy…" Josh admitted and the two Holloways nodded in agreement.

The three walked in and the door shut as soon as they got inside. Shocked, they turned around to see no one there. They all shuddered and quickly turned back around to pretend that didn't happen.

"A-anyway." Elle began, obviously creeped out. "Let's go find a bedroom to sleep in or something. The other two nodded stiffly. "Y-yeah, let's."

And so the three went upstairs and into Joey's room. Nora and Elle slept together on the bed, huddled close together, and Josh made a bed out of pillow's he got from Sam's room.

"Good night." The three said and went to sleep, hoping that today was all just a dream.

**Author's notes**

**There's chapter 2 for you. I hope it's good. It took some time to write. Some of it however displeased me, but I hope you like it. I always have to criticize my work for some reason… Well anyway, thanks for the reviews and I am quite thankful for the tips ^_^ I hope I got more emotions into this chapter. I think I did though. Thanks for reading, please review, and Ciao!**


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